Summer Newsletter 2011

My dad contracted polio in 1946 and though he recovered enough to be able to manage the business end of the farm – he was a paraplegic
the rest of his life and could not accomplish
the physical aspects of running a pheasant farm. My mom’s younger brother Jim
Adamson and Jim’s wife Dot came to work for
my dad in 1946. My dad ran the office and
Jim and Dot managed the farm and the
hatchery for the next 35 years.

At MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. we strive to be
the most progressive and innovative pheasant
farm in the world. Our success in market birds
throughout the world has been tied to our
unique genetics. In the past we have been able
to import wild pheasants from China to
produce our Manchurian Cross, the wildest
pheasant being sold on the market. And we
continue to work diligently to maintain and
improve our current pheasant stocks.

MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. strives to produce
the best product available for our customers.
Delivery of our product must be done in a
timely manner, and in our continued quest for
excellence, we depend on having reliable
equipment.

One of the jobs as a manager here at
MacFarlane Pheasants is to answer questions
that our customers have regarding the
gamebird business. Whether it be incubation,
brooding or any other area of concern, we like
to help in any way we can.
As the Hatchery Manager of what is
considered one of the largest hatcheries of
pheasants in the nation, I get my share of
calls.

Commodity markets are markets in which any
raw or primary products are exchanged or
traded. To be more speceific, Agricultural
Commodities (beans, wheat, corn, oats, ets)
are the comodities that drive the cost of feed.
This market can be difficult to understand and
follow, even for the experts. To follow the
markets, one must first understand some of the
terminology used in them.

As near as anyone can determine I started
working for MacFarlane Pheasant Farm during
the summer of 1959. Bill MacFarlane's uncle,
Jim Adamson was the foreman and the crew
consisted of about twenty five part time
employees.

There has been a growing list of projects on the
farm and the need for someone to plan, budget,
and oversee the projects was needed. The new
position of Project Manager has been created
which I have filled. The main summer project is
to replace 16.5 acres of top netting that was
damaged in the 2009 blizzard. It requires cutting
down and removing the old netting, replacing
numerous broken posts and stretching the new
netting.

MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. strives to produce
the best product available for our customers.
Delivery of our product must be done in a
timely manner, and in our continued quest for
excellence, we depend on having reliable
equipment.

Pen Management is like continuing education.
There is always something new to learn, a
better way to do things and then there are
unexpected events. During December of 2009
we experienced a brutal blizzard, causing
major damage around the farm but we got
through that, learning what worked and where
we had flaws. This unusually cold spring has
presented us with new challenges.

At MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. we strive to be
the most progressive and innovative pheasant
farm in the world. Our success in market birds
throughout the world has been tied to our
unique genetics. In the past we have been able
to import wild pheasants from China to
produce our Manchurian Cross, the wildest
pheasant being sold on the market. And we
continue to work diligently to maintain and
improve our current pheasant stocks.

At MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. we strive to be
the most progressive and innovative pheasant
farm in the world. Our success in market birds
throughout the world has been tied to our
unique genetics. In the past we have been able
to import wild pheasants from China to
produce our Manchurian Cross, the wildest
pheasant being sold on the market. And we
continue to work diligently to maintain and
improve our current pheasant stocks.

Since 2007, MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. has
participated in the Wisconsin Restaurant Expo,
showing off our food products selections,
talking with chefs, restaurant owners, media
personnel and culinary students about our
products and discussing how to fit pheasant on
the menu.

The antibiotic product Aivlosin has been
registered for use in pheasants by the
European Medicines Agency, London. The
report on a test of the efficacy of Aivlosin
granules (which contains the active
ingredient tylvalosin) given in the drinking
water for 3 days to treat disease in pheasants
due to mycoplasma compared to an
un-medicated control group makes it clear
from the results that a marked improvement
was observed in the medicated compared to
the un-medicated pheasants. The resul

I traveled with Brad Lillie this past January to
attend the World Poultry Exposition in Atlanta.
One of our most valuable stops we made was
when we visited the Charm Sciences, Inc.
booth. Charm Sciences provided information
on rapid testing equipment for identifying the
presence of individual myco-toxins in our
feed. Over the last few years we have (as all
gamebird raisers have) experienced the
negative affect of myco-toxins, especially in
our chicks and breeding flocks. Pheasants
and

Here at MacFarlane’s Pheasants we are
continually striving to become more efficient
and economical.We look for ways to cut costs
and retune our processes to remain
competitive.With the rising cost of feed we
needed to make a change in regards to dealing
with leftover feed after the shipping season
ends.

With a crew of five starting over 300,000 chicks, efficiency is vital. From early March till the end of August, chick season is a continual cycle of cleaning out barns, washing barns, setting up barns and
moving out birds.

Mark your calendars! The date has been set
for MacFarlane’s 8th Biannual International
Pheasant Management Seminar. The dates are
Sunday, March 4th through Wednesday, March
7th, 2012 and will be held in Janesville, WI at
the America’s Best Value Inn.

It was a work in progress for several months
but MacFarlanes finally made it on the I-90
attraction sign! Our main office and farm are located
just 2.5 miles from I-90, Exit 177. We are
easy access for travelers to stop in and see
what we’re all about!